“Dwayne?” Lucy says, startled, and I turn abruptly, pushing her behind me. I finally got answers about Dwayne earlier tonight. I know he has been skimming the coffee takings and any other money he can get his hands on. I now have proof, as well as proof that he is a low-life scum who often prays on young women, conning them out of said funds.
“Are you okay?” she says, looking around my body at him, confused. She goes to step to the side, and I grab her.
“Huxley?”
“Got something to say, Rolex man?” Dwayne spits out at me, and I am seething. Seething at myself for not finding out what he was about sooner. Seething that I let him work here for so long with Lucy when I knew deep down, he was bad news.
“Yeah, I got something to say.” I step toward him as he steps back.
“Come on, then,” he says, pushing me, and I step out onto the cold, wet sidewalk, my eyes only on him.
“Dwayne? Huxley? What is going on?” Lucy says, following us outside, getting wet in the process.
“Get inside, Luce,” I tell her, my eyes focused on the asshole in front of me.
“Dwayne, what’s wrong? I paid you your final amount. You don’t need to be here.” Her voice is slightly panicked, and at least I know now that she has already fired him. One less thing for me to do.
He looks disheveled, and as I glance around, I see no one else on the street. Just us.
“You should have chosen me,” he says coldly to Lucy, and my eyebrow rises. What the fuck did he just say?
“What?” She squints at him. Is that alcohol on his breath? I see Lucy wrap her arms around her middle, cold or scared, I am not sure. Probably both.
“Get inside, Luce,” I ask her again, but her stubbornness prevents any action on her part.
“You should have chosen me. Now it is too late,” he spits out before taking a few steps toward me and throwing a punch. I stumble back, the force a surprise and the pain instant as he hits me exactly where Harrison did today. Asshole.
“Huxley!” Lucy shouts, running toward me.
“You asshole. Does she know you were stealing from her!” I shout as I take a swing and connect with his jaw.
“What?” Lucy stills.
“Does she know that you prey on single women, steal their money, and try to get in their pants,” I yell again, my anger growing by the second, and I punch him once more, taking enjoyment in seeing him stumble back.
“Oh my God,” Lucy says, eyes wide. The three of us are out here in the dark, the rain pouring on us all, and I need her to get back where it’s safe.
“Lucy, call the police; this fucker needs to be arrested,” I tell her, watching him so carefully that I jump at the next sound.
“Oh, don’t do that. This is just getting interesting.” Amy’s voice appears, and my head whips around to see her slowly stalking toward Lucy. Did she come from next door?
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I grit out to her.
“Dwayne, please do your job.” I look between them, confused, as Dwayne rushes toward me with a growl and hits me again. I grab him as I fall backward, the two of us now wrestling on the wet sidewalk, my jaw aching, but my fear for Lucy now in overdrive.
“Stop. Stop! What is going on!” Lucy screams, panic rising as I push Dwayne away and stand, rushing to her.
“If you had come to me, we could have been married, and this building could have become mine,” Dwayne pants out, his anger palpable.
“And if you just stayed in Whispers another day, Lucy here would have been all Dwayne’s. But, as per usual, Huxley, you spoil everything,” Amy says, and I start to connect the dots.
“The two of you are working together?” I ask, subtly trying to push Lucy behind me as I keep both Dwayne and Amy in front of us. I feel the trickle of blood down my temple, the taste of it now also in my mouth. It’s been a while since I had an altercation like this. The pain’s intense.
“And getting paid handsomely to do so.” Amy smiles in glee.
“It’s always been about the money for you, hasn’t it?” I ask, coming to realize she is a gold digger. Plain and simple.
“Oh, Huxley, for such a successful businessman, you are so dumb.” She cackles through the rain, and I feel Lucy step forward, so I push her back again.